Reviews by RedSpecial1:

A: Pours a clear amber with orange highlights and a decent amount of white head that disappears quickly.

S: A gourd-like sweetness is the main character, with a hint of pumpkin pie following with an almost burnt sugar character.

T: The flavor is a sweet gourd character up front, followed by the same pumpkin pie spice and burnt sugar character on the finish. Very restrained, and refreshing.

M: Light, with moderate carbonation. The flavors are distinct, but work well together.

O: Overall, an excellent example of a pumpkin ale. You get the feeling that there is actually pumpkin used in this recipe from some of the residual flavors, and the spices aren't ridiculously in your face as they are in so many other examples of the style. Definitely a good example of the style.

Purchased from Three Cellars in Franklin, WI. Pours a reddish amber body with a short white head that quickly fades. Aroma is of pumkin pie spices. Mouthfeel is medium bodied. Caramelized sugar and cinnamon are too over the top and dominate in the taste. No other flavors get a chance to come through. This is just too one-dimensional and not very good.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass. Label info includes a nice description and its ABV which is 7.5%. No freshness date is noticeable.

Appearance: From the aggressive pour I got a two finger tall soapy head which is light tan in color. It quickly fades leaving just a thin film covering with slightly thicker ring at the edge. Under this is a deep amber body with good clarity and nice visible carbonation.

Smell: There is pie spice and sweet malt in the nose here with just a hint of herbal hops coming through as well.

Taste/Palate: As the aroma foreshadows there is a sweet bready and almost pie crust like maltiness with a heavy hit of pumpkin pie spice. Cinnamon and nutmeg are the standouts. The pumpkin/squashy character is light but noticeable. The finish has plenty of lingering pie spice and a little herbal flavor with mild hop bitterness. I also notice a little of the 7.5% ABV here too.

Notes: Overall I liked it and think it is a solid all-around Pumpkin Ale. With its ABV and heavy spicing you may not want too many in a row however.

Appearance:Pours a lightly hazed, deep amber body. On pour, a nice, white inch thick head is present but fades to a small ring pretty quick. Light carbonation, no lacing, and light legs.

Aroma:In a word; Fantastic! This is pumpkin pie in a glass! Plenty of pumpkin character with roasted pumpkin seeds. Traditional pie spices are in attendance (nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and even a hint of clove) with a sweet pie crust coated in cinnamon and sugar. Whipped cream tops this one off. Yum!

Taste:What more do want from a pumpkin beer than this: It taste like pumpkin pie in a glass? Follows the nose beautifully. A bit more spicing than the benchmark (Pumpking) and there is a definite bite from alcohol but it almost enhances the flavor instead of detracting from it. Nicely spiced aftertaste.

Overall:I love a good pumpkin ale, I'd go as far as saying it pretty much my favorite style. While this doesn't dethrone the king of pumpkin beers, Pumpking, it riding on its coat-tails, it's patiently waiting its for its turn to sit in the iron throne. Additionally, if I want to get my hands on Southern Tier's nectar of the gods, I have to drive 4 hours, giving Whole Hog a hell of an advantage. Do yourself a favor and snag this if you see it!

S: Lots of pumpkin, cloves, and other spices--nutmeg, allspice, etc.--but the cloves and pumpkins are the stars; there is some toasted malt presence on the back side, which eventually comes to the forefront

T: Pumpkin and spice aren't over-powering but they are there; I wish there was a stronger bready malt base--pretty pumpkin forward and yet somewhat simple

F: A touch thin on the back end with some creaminess up front that does kind of make up for it

O: A pleasant, straight-forward pumpkin beer; decent option though there are better options out there--but considering the price point, this will work

A: The beer is quite hazy amber orange in color and has a light to moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a half finger high beige colored head that died down but consistently left a thin head covering the surface. S: Moderately strong aromas of pumpkin pie are present in the nose. T: Like the smell, the taste has bright flavors of pumpkin and pumpkin pie, but there's no associated sweetness. There are flavors of nutmeg and other spices, but these aren't too strong. M:It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.O: I really liked this beer because it had lots of pumpkins and pumpkin pie spices, but it wasn't really sweet or spicy. It has excellent drinkability.

I'll say it again: I'm getting increasingly proud of my brother's beer selections. This one pours a clear ruby-amber topped by a finger of ecru foam. The nose comprises cinnamon, nutmeg, French vanilla, brown sugar, and graham crackers. The taste runs very similarly, with that pumpkin pie kinda flavor, but the sweetness of it all is dulled slightly by a splash of pumpkin seeds and orange peel. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a smooth feel. Overall, a tasty gem of a pumpkin beer, something you don't find too many of these days.

A - Pretty run of the mill appearance: Clear body of red/amber with a bubbly off-white head that recedes moderately.

S - VERY pungent, with aromas of freshly baked pumpkin pie dominating. The pumpkin pie spice specifically is very forward. I don't know any other way to describe it than saying it smells just like a pumpkin pie. Literally.

T - As with the nose, pumpkin pie is forward with nutmeg and cinnamon being upfront, ginger and allspice taking the backseat. The malt notes are very reminiscent of a pie crust... I'm now starting to think that this is actually a pumpkin pie in liquid form.

M - Smooth, carbonation relatively low.

O - I think this surpasses Pumpking as my new favorite pumpkin beer. Really good if you are looking for something that is forward with the pumpkin pie spice.

The aroma is lots of clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, medium pumpkin, some caramel sweetness.

The flavor follows of that spice in the front, a big pop of clove along with pie spices. Pumpkin comes through in the middle as the beer gets sweeter with vanilla, brown sugar, and toasted malt of that brown ale back bone.

Even with Schlafly and ahead of Pumking in a blind taste test of the three.

Pretty flavourless overall. Nothing special going on in the appearance, dark ruby brown with no head. Really not much smell at all, a bit of caramel and sweet malts. The taste was equally bland. One could detect a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon in the mix. It was interesting, but much much weaker than I expected.

The only real redeeming quality of this beer was the high ABV was unnoticeable. You could look pretty cool getting wasted of your ass at a frat party. O_o

Bottle > Pint GlassA - Pours a hazy amber color, half a finger of thin fizzy head, no lacing.S - Smell isnt too appeasing to me, some burnt caramel, roasted hazelnut, tart pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg.T - Taste has some nice roasty kind of pumpkin flavor to it, then gets warmed up with some spice, and fades on the end to a dark floral and semi tart kinda taste.M - More on the bitter side, kinda chalky too.O - I really didnt care for this a whole lot, its more of a roasty kind of pumpkin brown ale, but its not the worst.

Dark burnt orange with bright pumpkin highlights when backlit with sunshine. Almost two fingers of toasted marshmallow colored foam was created on the pour. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the world's greatest texture and isn't exactly slathering the glass with lace.

The aroma has the 'spiced pumpkin ale' thing down pat. Cinnamon and ginger are both appreciated (especially the former) and there's no hint of alcohol, despite the beer's quasi-Imperial status. This could be pretty good stuff.

Stevens Point took a slightly different approach by using roasted malt, along with caramel and Munich. The result is a beer that is different enough to be interesting, while still tasting like the prototypical pumpkin ale.

Extremely subtle chocolate notes add another facet to a style that is sometimes lacking in facets. As in the nose, the spices are very well done. For whatever reason, warming is doing the beer no favors. It's still good, it just isn't bold enough or deep enough to deserve the next highest taste score.

The mouthfeel is a trifle thin for the ABV. Come to think of it, more malt would have helped this seasonal in any number of ways. Carbonation is fine the way it is.

Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale would have been better beer if Stevens Point had gone whole hog. The spice used, the spice load and the ABV are perfectly fine. More malt, though, would have bulked this little piggy up and might have turned him into a blue ribbon hog that could have shared the stage with some of the style's best.

This brew pours a copper color with a thin head which dissipates quickly and little lacing. Low carbonation.

The smell is has some pumpkin and spices in it; possibly cardamom and allspice. Caramel malts and brown sugar.

The taste is light on both the pumpkin and the spices. Not much pumpkin taste at all.

The mouthfeel is thin and watery

Overall I think this is a complete miss as a pumpkin ale. In don't understand the high ratings for this brew. Little pumpkin smell or taste. Little pumpkin spice smell or taste; this brew is even light on the caramel malts. There are much better pumpkin ales out there.

Taste: In the mouth, this one is not shy with the spices at all. Full-flavored, with a warming heat, and a solid, malt body below. In between blasts of spice, some hops are present on the palate. Classic caramel malt body. Easy drinker, despite the high-ish a.b.v. Tasty stuff, and highly likable.

Much thanks to Dave for providing the bottle. He wanted to share a pumpkin ale he thought I would like, after I wrote that perhaps I didn't like them anymore. I like them, when they're as good as this, but can't see having more than one in a sitting.

Deep and inviting brownish amber. Creamy spicy aroma of fall pies, yeah ... it smells like pumpkin pie. Smooth and bity mouthfeel. The body, the maltiness and the spicing are all amazing with this thickness that slowly rolls across the palate and down the throat. Packs a small kick at 7.5-percent ABV, so this would be considered an Imperial Pumpkin. Some esters show off a ripe fruit flavor middle to end. Caramelized sugars from the malt bounce off the pie spice. With 10 IBUs, the hops are pretty much nonexistent, which is fine as it lets the pie spice do all of the work. Spicing is most definitely here, but does not become tiresome. Yes! We can taste a smidgen of pumpkin, which makes all of the difference.

This Imperial Pumpkin Ale has some meat. The complexities make you think about the style all over again, while it begs to be paired with your typical turkey dinner.